During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial court garrisoned a large number of troops in Lingzhou, especially since the Middle Tang Dynasty, and set up the Shuofang Jiedu Mansion here, commanding 30,000 troops.

However, an Anshi Rebellion almost wiped out the Shuofang army, and the current Shuofang army only has more than 8,000 people, responsible for guarding Lingzhou, Fengzhou, Youzhou, Yanzhou and Xiazhou, etc., and the distribution of troops is too scattered, resisting the harassment and looting of the grassland peoples, it seems a little powerless.

On the official road outside Lingzhou City, a field protection team returned triumphantly, and a flatbed cart dragged a huge wild boar, which was four or five hundred catties.

At the front of the team, Guo Song was listening to his new friend Liang Wu explain the situation in Lingzhou to him.

"Every other year in April and May, Xue Yantuo's cavalry will come from the northern grasslands, plundering population and food, Lingwu County was breached five years ago, many people died, and now a castle has been built in the city, that is our last line of defense, and our Liang family also has an inner castle."

Guo Song already knew that this Liang Wu was the nephew of Liang Yundao, a wealthy family in Lingwu County, and his ancestor Liang Shidu was also a hero at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and he was once the emperor of Lingzhou.

However, this Liang Wu is very bold, and he does not have the slightest bit of the condescension of a wealthy child, especially when he assassinated the wild boar, he completely put life and death out of the way, which made Guo Song feel a sense of pity in his heart.

Guo Song frowned and said, "Didn't Xue Yantuo be destroyed by the Tang Dynasty during the Zhenguan period?" How did it appear again? ”

"I don't know much about this ....., Uncle Rong, do you know?"

The middle-aged man named Uncle Rong laughed and said: "Daoist Guo doesn't know, the various tribes of Tiele are composed of countless small tribes, and generally the headquarters is destroyed, and the other departments are divided by the Hui, Sijie, and Servant Bones, and the Xue Yantuo Department is gone."

I heard that several branches of Xue Yantuo fled to the west of Jinshan, and later with the support of the Qarluqs, they took advantage of the Anshi Rebellion to kill back to the south of Jinshan, annexed dozens of small tribes of Tiele, and rose again, and now the south of Jinshan has become Xue Yantuo's territory, and even the Hui people can only pinch their noses and admit it. ”

Guo Song, of course, knew that the Qarluqs, a Western Turkic branch, had betrayed the Tang army in the Battle of Tanros, which led to the defeat of the Tang army by the Arab coalition forces, and after the war, the Qarluqs gained great benefits and occupied a vast territory west of the Green Ridge from Broken Leaf to Green Ridge.

It supported the re-emergence of the Xue Yantuo Tribe, apparently wanting to reach into the Mobei Plateau, and the Hui and Tubo fought for Tocharo, but the backyard was unstable and was seen by the Qarluqs.

"Brother Guo, how long do you plan to stay when you come back this time?" Liang Wu asked with a smile.

"It shouldn't be too long, I still have to go to Chang'an, this time I came to Lingzhou mainly to settle down, and then find a friend's parents."

"Do you want me to help?"

Of course, it is good to have the help of the head snake, so Guo Song told Han Xiaowu about the situation and saw if Liang Wu could help him find Han Xiaowu's parents.

Liang Wu promised that Han was also a big surname in Liangwu County, and he should be able to find out.

After a short time, the group entered Lingzhou City.

Lingzhou City is also called Lingwu County, it is the third largest city in Longyou, the circumference of the city wall is 40 miles, tall and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the villages outside the city have moved into the city, so that the population in the city is large, there are more than 200,000 people.

At this time, it was afternoon, the street was very lively, bustling, and the flow of people was endless, and many people gathered around to see the wild boar king on the cart, and couldn't stop marveling.

The Liang family is in the north of the city, and the Guo family that Guo Song is going to is in the south of the city, so it's time for them to break up.

Liang Wu took out the half-foot-long wild boar fangs and handed them to Guo Song, "This is yours, the wild boar is too big, so I won't give it to you." ”

The most valuable thing about wild boars is the wild boar fangs and wild boar skins, Guo Song just heard Uncle Rong say that it seems that Liang Wu's uncle has always wanted to use the wild boar fangs to make the handle of the knife.

Guo Song shook his head, "This is for your uncle, I don't need it, next time Brother Liang invites me to have a glass of wine." ”

"Good! I'll be sure to come and ask my brother for a drink in two days. ”

Liang Wu was not hypocritical, and bowed his hand to Guo Song and said goodbye with a group of subordinates.

Guo Song asked the way and led the green donkey to the south of the city.

The biggest feature of Lingzhou City is that there are nine large inner castles, which were built after the city was breached five years ago, if the city is broken by Hu Cavalry again, then these nine inner castles are the last line of defense.

Guo Song heard Liang Wu say that the largest castle in the middle is the Shuofang Jiedu Embassy and the Lingzhou Prefecture, and the other eight castles belong to the eight wealthy families of Lingzhou, and the Liang family built the North Castle, and the Guo family is also one of them.

Guo Song looked up at the sky, didn't see Mengzi, looked around again, and suddenly found it, it was standing on the eaves of the city tower, shrunk its neck, and looked at itself with a sleepy face, which was its typical performance of wanting to doze off when it was full.

Guo Song waved his hand to it, and the fierce son chirped, flapped his wings and flew up, and flew towards a towering tree, there was a big bird's nest on the big tree, and in a moment, the two gray magpies fled in panic.

The fierce son folded its wings and landed in the nest, and a nest of eggs became its snack, and this is how it forcibly occupied the nests of other birds all the way north.

Walked along a street for two miles, there was a magnificent castle in front, and a big flag with a yellow background and black borders was picked up on the castle, and the word 'Guo' was written on it, and the Guo family finally arrived.

Guo Song's footsteps were a little hesitant, his predecessor had been in the reception hospital in Kongtong Town for three years, he was bullied, and his body was very weak, but if the Guo family took care of it a little, it would not be so miserable.

If the Guo family is a poor family, it is fine, but it is a wealthy family in Lingzhou, which can only mean that the Guo family does not care about the life and death of his predecessor at all, and it seems that his status in the Guo family is very humble.

But since he has already come, he wants to see how the Guo family treats him?

Guo Song walked directly towards the Guo family castle.

Like other castles, a large number of dilapidated houses were built around the Guo family's castle, and at least one or two thousand families lived, basically all of whom were tenant farmers who farmed for the Guo family, or the low-level people who relied on the Guo family's major industries to live, but they were not slaves, but only an economic dependency.

This kind of attachment is very common in the Tang Dynasty, and it is the same everywhere, but there is a deeper relationship in Lingzhou, once Hu Qi breaks through the city, these dependent people can take refuge in the Guo family castle.

It can be regarded as a community of destiny, but the Guo family is by no means a good person, and these low-level people will also suffer from the Guo family's various exploitations.

The gate is very magnificent, and there are several men with knives standing at the door.

Guo Song stepped forward and hugged his fists and said, "Please report it for me, just say that Guo Song, who was sent to Kongtong Mountain to become a monk thirteen years ago, has returned." ”

Several family members were at a loss, they had never heard of the name Guo Song.

One of the housekeepers said, "Go and ask the housekeeper!" Maybe he knew. ”

A housekeeper rushed in to find the butler to report it.

After a while, a thin housekeeper came out, he looked at Guo Song, and saw that the Taoist priest in front of him was poorly dressed, and he was very contemptuous in his heart, so he asked in a sharp voice: "Where are you from a wild Taoist priest, who dares to claim to be a child of the Guo family?" ”

Guo Song saw that he looked contemptuous, and actually opened his mouth to accuse himself of being a pretending child, which made him really dissatisfied in his heart, and he said coldly: "You go and report to the head of the Guo family, as long as the head of the family says that there is no such person as Guo Song, then I will turn around and leave, and I will not come again." ”

The butler scratched his head and said impatiently: "Then you wait!" ”

He turned and went into the house.

Guo Song is also a little strange, could it be that he made a mistake, there is another small Guo family in Lingzhou.

Guo Song really didn't know anything about his predecessor's background.

His parents' house is actually not here, but in Mingsha County, there are more than a dozen Guo families in Mingsha County, and it is a partial branch of the Guo family in Lingzhou, but it is not wrong for Guo Song to come to Lingzhou Guo's family.

It all started thirteen years ago.

Thirteen years ago, Guo Wulang of the Guo family in Lingzhou had a serious illness, and the doctors were helpless, because he was frail and sick since he was a child, he did not marry a wife and had no heirs.

His father, Mrs. Guo, was worried that Wulang would have no queen and cut off the incense, so he brought a young son surnamed Guo from Mingsha County, whose parents died, which was the predecessor of Guo Song, when he was only five years old.

But things are not so simple, Guo Wulang's eldest brother insists that he must follow the old customs of Lingzhou.

According to the old customs of Lingzhou, the adopted child cannot be immediately adopted as an heir, but must be a monk for a year, and then return to the custom, go through a reincarnation in the empty door, and erase the traces of his original parents on his body, so that he can be clean and passed as an heir.

Guo Taigong, who believes in Taoism, sent the child to Kongtong Mountain to become a monk, and prayed for Guo Wulang to eliminate disasters by the way.

If Guo Wulang can survive, maybe Guo Song's life in Kongtong Mountain will be a little better.

But Sanqing did not bless Guo Wulang, two months later, Guo Wulang died of illness, before he died, Guo Dalang, who had a premeditated plan, let his youngest son kowtow to Guo Wulang three times, calling him father.

Guo Wulang has had descendants since then, and Guo Dalang naturally included the hundreds of acres of Shangtian of his fifth brother into his own pocket, no! Included in his youngest son's bag, the fertilizer and water do not flow into the fields of outsiders, and Guo Taigong had to approve it.

Everyone handled the funeral for Guo Wulang, and his stepson was responsible for going to the grave every year to pay respects, and the incense problem was successfully solved, and the Guo family naturally chose to forget the children sent to Kongtong Mountain to become monks.

Mrs. Guo died of war five years ago, and the current Guo family room is headed by Guo Dalang, but Guo Dalang is not the head of the Guo family, and the head of the Guo family is served by the elders of the second room, that is, Guo Dalang's second uncle.

The head of the family didn't know who Guo Song was, but Guo Dalang knew better than anyone that the child who was sent to Kongtong Mountain thirteen years ago didn't die and came back.

Guo Dalang pondered for a long time and then asked the thin second housekeeper, "What does the head of the family say?" ”

"The head of the house asked the old housekeeper, and the old housekeeper said that there was such a thing, and the head of the house asked you to take care of him."

Guo Dalang was very annoyed in his heart, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands in his hands, this matter would ruin his reputation, he had to drive this Guo Song away, but how to get rid of him?

The second housekeeper rolled his eyes and said: "Master, let him live outside, he has no food and clothing, he will naturally leave, and the master of the family will ask in the future, and the master can say that his cultivation heart is not exhausted, and he will return to Kongtong Mountain." ”

"Wonderful! Sure enough, it's a clever plan, you can arrange this matter, I have been unwell for the past two days, so I won't see him. ”